Briscoe Scores Pole At Texas

FORT WORTH, June 5, 2010: Two of Ryan Briscoe's five IZOD IndyCar Series victories have been secured on 1.5-mile ovals.

He'll start from the pole in seeking a third. Briscoe, driving the No. 6 Team Penske car, recorded a four-lap average speed of 215.273 mph (1 minute, 37.3275 seconds) to earn the PEAK Performance Pole Award for the Firestone 550K at Texas Motor Speedway.

Dario Franchitti, seeking to be the third consecutive Indianapolis 500 champion to win at Texas in the same year, was 0.0057 of a second off Briscoe's pace. He'll start on the outside of the front row for the 228-lap race under the lights after an average of 215.261 mph.

Briscoe's teammate, Will Power, will be on the second row with Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon, who won the 2008 Texas race. Helio Castroneves, the pole sitter at Indianapolis, and Dale Coyne Racing's Alex Lloyd will be on Row 3.

The top five qualifiers were separated by 0.3912 of a second and the top 10 by 0.6777 of a second.

Briscoe earned the 10th pole start of his career (second of the season), and has converted one into victory (2009 Chicagoland Speedway).